After Donovan Catholic High School wrestler Brandon Gonzalez fell unconscious when his heart stopped at the end of a January match, media coverage focused on the heroic efforts that revived him.

For those all-too-familiar with such nightmares, however, the focus was different: How can we prevent the next one? Because there will be a next one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one student-athlete suffers sudden cardiac arrest every three to four days.

"You read about it probably at least two times a year,” said Pat Trott, an advocate for cardiac screening of all high school athletes. “When it hits home, it’s the worst thing in the world.”

Trott knows, because in 2011 her daughter Nicole Trott died of sudden cardiac arrest shortly after graduating from St. John Vianney High School.

A growing awareness

Nicole was a cheerleader, gymnast and pole vaulter whose autopsy revealed a rare heart defect known as ALCAPA. She was born with it, but never suffered symptoms. Her preseason athletic physical showed nothing, but an electrocardiogram (EKG) — which measures the heart’s electrical activity to detect abnormalities — could have saved her life.

That’s the impetus behind Nicole’s Heart Foundation, which sponsors free cardiac screenings and spreads the word about their importance. On Saturday the nonprofit it holding its first annual 5K Walk/Run at Thompson Park in the Lincroft section of Middletown. The ultimate goal is for EKGs to become a standard part of preseason physicals — the way they are for high school athletes in Italy and Israel, and for professional athletes in this country.

“What we’re doing is awareness, and hopefully eventually something will come of this,” Pat Trott said. “I definitely see it expanding in the future because of the feedback I get from parents. Everybody seems very interested in it.”

They certainly are interested at Donovan Catholic. Wrestling coach Stephen Glawson said Burlington County-based Deborah Heart and Lung Center will provide free cardiac screenings for all Griffins athletes in 2017-18.

Generally speaking, Glawson said, “I recommend everybody gets a 12-lead EKG; 12 leads gives you the whole circumference of the heart. I’ve had each of my (wrestlers) get one. I do think there’s a greater awareness of this now.”

As for Gonzalez, Glawson said he was cleared a month ago to resume playing sports — with an implanted defibrillator to prompt his heart to beat at a normal rate. Glawson said extensive testing did not turn up a definitive reason behind Gonzalez’s collapse.

“He wants to wrestle this summer,” Glawson said.

The debate continues

Dr. Mitchel Alpert and his staff at Alpert, Zales and Castro Pediatric Cardiology, which is based in Brick and Red Bank, perform free screenings regularly at St. John Vianney on behalf of Nicole’s Heart Foundation.

“We’ve found a few things — nothing super major but things people needed to know,” Alpert said. “If you do 500 and save one life, it is worth it? Certainly. You have to go through quite a few of these to find something meaningful where it can be lifesaving.”

The concept of mandating cardiac testing among young athletes is a point of debate within the medical and athletic communities. The NCAA announced last year that it would not be required of college athletes, but did issue testing guidelines for interested schools (many of which do mandate it for their athletes).

Cost is perceived as a hindrance. A Stanford University study put it at $88 per athlete and calculated two lives saved per 1,000 teens screened. Concerns over false positives, which are not uncommon, is another issue.

Alpert said the concept is trending “toward (widespread) screening but it isn’t quite there yet.” Movements take time to crystallize. For example: on-site defibrillators in high schools, like the one that helped save Gonzalez, were virtually unheard of a generation ago. Now they are mandated by law.

“There was a time when people were instructed to not have defibrillators, that if they had one and didn’t use it right, they’d get sued,” Alpert said. “The law has actually evolved on that. Now if you have a sport like wrestling going on and you don’t have a defibrillator, you can be sued. Ten years ago you couldn’t be. I do think there will come a time where EKG screening will be standard.”

In the meantime, Nicole’s Heart will continue to spread the word. To date, the foundation has arranged the screening of 400 students. Pat Trott said they are working on bringing the testing to Christian Brothers Academy in the fall.

The nonprofit also just awarded two $1,000 scholarships in Nicole’s memory, to Shravya Jasti of Holmdel High and Shaine Sauter of St. John Vianney. And then there is the inaugural 5K, which takes place at 9 a.m. Saturday (entry fee is $25 in advance and $35 on race day).

“The word is getting out there in the community,” Trott said.

There is much at stake. As Alpert put it, when it comes to matters of the heart, “the penalty for missing something is a tragedy.”